Desiccant Dryer Control

February 21, 2016Ken Bean

Desiccant air dryers utilize a tremendous amount of energy through the consumption of compressed air and/or heat to regenerate the desiccant bed.

The use of hygrometers or dew point meters is commonly applied to reduce the amount of energy usage.

A recent article by “Compressed Air Best Practices” informs end users that this type of control is not the panacea that manufacturers would have you believe.

Seeing is not always believing

However, the use of an in (desiccant) bed capacitance probe can assure a lifetime of proper operation with no calibration required. The AMLOC capacitance probe used exclusively on dryers manufactured by Pneumatic Products Corporation (PPC)

AMLOC®

The AMLOC Energy Management Systems maintain accuracy, dew point stability and never need recalibration. Patented one quarter century ago, AMLOC® generates tens-of-thousands of dollars in energy saving annuities for industry leaders. The model of durability, THE PTFE or ceramic coated, stainless steel capacitance probes sense the changes to the dielectric constant imparted upon the desiccant by the extracted water vapor. Capable of identifying an aging or fouled bed, desiccant regeneration cycles are managed with precision.

Air or Electric

February 16, 2016Ken Bean

A 1.17 rated horsepower air operated mixer uses 45 cfm at 80 pounds-per-square-inch (psi) and operates 40 hours per week. The cost of the compressed air to operate this motor over a year is $1,292. A comparably sized electric motor of Energy Policy Act (EPACT) efficiency, rated for hazardous locations, is around $350. The cost to operate the EPACT motor under the same conditions is less than $100 per year. Including installation, payback is under one year.

Air Audits can discover a multitude of energy saving ideas in your plant.

Point Of Use Compressed Air Storage

February 9, 2016Ken Bean

There are frequent articles on the site touting the benefits of compressed air storage. We usually refer to large receiver tanks as the ones pictured above. This article will focus on the benefits of local storage or receivers located at or near the point of use where there are one of just a few intermittent high flow demands. I have found this technique to be extremely beneficial in bag house pulsing applications.

A correctly-sized storage receiver close to the point of the intermittent demand with a check valve and a metering valve can be an effective and lower cost alternative. For this type of storage strategy, a check valve and a tapered plug or needle valve are installed upstream of the receiver. The check valve will maintain receiver pressure at the maximum system pressure and only allow air to be consumed from the receiver when the system line pressure falls below the pressure of the receiver. The plug or needle valve will meter the flow of compressed air to “slow fill” the receiver during the interval between demand events. This will have the effect of reducing the large intermittent requirement into a much smaller average demand.

Understand Your System

February 2, 2016Ken Bean

Compressed air system’s are complex. Each components carries it’s own difficulties in understanding but once multiples of these components are installed in an industrial plant, a simple area drawing gets complicated really quick.

Before implementing energy reduction strategies, be familiar with all aspects of your compressed air system.

System Supply

Analyze the supply side of your compressed air system for the types of compressors and dryers used, suitability and settings of capacity controls and other operating conditions. Understand the basic capabilities of the system and its various modes of operation. Verify that air compressors are not too big for end uses. For example, an air compressor is oversized if the end use only requires air pressure that is 50 % of the pressure that the compressor is capable of producing. Once the big picture is in view, supply side operating conditions can be modified, within the constraints of the compressed air unit, to better match the demand side uses of compressed air.

System demand

Identify all the uses of compressed air in the plant. Quantify the volume of air used in each application and generate a demand profile, quantity of air used as a function of time, for the compressor. Equipment specifications for operations that use air are good resources for obtaining data on air volume use rates. The profile highlights peak and low demand. A general assessment of compressed air use will help identify inappropriate uses of air.

System diagram

Develop a sketch of your compressed air system including compressors, dryers, receivers, filtration, drain traps, air supply lines with dimensions, and compressed air end uses to provide an overall view of the entire compressed air process.

Distribution system

Investigate the distribution system for any problems related to line size, pressure loss, air storage capacity, air leaks and condensation drains. Verify that all condensation drains are operating properly because inadequate drainage can increase pressure drop across the distribution system.

Maintenance

Evaluate maintenance procedures, records and training. Ensure that procedures are in place for operating and maintaining the compressed air system, and that employees are trained in these procedures.

Qualified audit engineers can give you a complete understanding of your system.